


A Difference in Translation

by Ramblingandpie



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:01:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25639942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ramblingandpie/pseuds/Ramblingandpie
Summary: Tali and Ashley share a quiet moment, and Tali reflects on some poetry that Ashley shared with her. Only... that's definitely not how it goes!
Relationships: Ashley Williams/Tali'Zorah nar Rayya
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	A Difference in Translation

Ashley sat on the couch in the lounge, gaze unfocused but watching the stars out the window. Her right hand idly ran over Tali's hood, as Tali sprawled on the couch with her head in Ashley's lap.

"I still can't believe," Ashley said, "that you finally have peace with the Geth."

"I know. I can't stop thinking of that poem you shared with me a few weeks ago. Two courses charted in the wilds, and I followed the unused one. The created problem was nullified."

Ashley's hand stopped. She furrowed her eyebrows.

"That's it, right? By a poet named Frost?"

"Can you just, uh, repeat that one more time?"

Tali scooched on the couch so she was looking up and facing Ashley.

"Two courses charted in the wilds, and I followed the unused one. The created problem was nullified."

Ashley sighed. "Okay. Babe. Something, I think, got lost in translation there."

"Oh, it's not right? Say it for me in Human, again, then?"

Now was not the time to once again bring up that human, like most species, had multiple languages. Ashley repeated the final three lines of the poem.

"Huh," Tali said, cocking her head to one side. "That's exactly what I repeated."

"In one translator and out the other," Ashley said. "The first two lines there are a pretty good match, but that last one is way off."

"Oh. It's not about fate, then?"

"It kind of is. But I'm just trying to figure out how it got 'the created problem was nullified' from 'that has made all the difference.' The poem is about how you can't undo what's been done."

"Huh. To me, it sounds like you just repeated yourself. I'm sure it would sound different if I turned off my translator, but then it would be gibberish either way."

Ashley rolled the words in her head. 'Made' and 'created' were close enough. Nullified, though?

"Hm. Nullify. Difference. Difference is two things not the same. Nullify has to do with zero. Zero is not the same as all? No…"

"I can tell you're thinking out loud because it always sounds like a very strange math problem on this end."

"Does it, now?" Ashley smiled. "I was never a big fan of math. Algebra and, ugh, long division. Hell, longhand subtraction is bad enough."

"For what it's worth, that was the same word. Subtraction."

Ashley frowned. "Subtraction? Difference? Those are the same?"

"Yep. Same word."

Ashley groaned. "It would be. I remember my third-grade teacher insisted we call subtraction 'taking the difference'. Managed to forget that until now."

Tali reached up and patted Ashley's cheek. "There, there. Sorry for making you think about math."


End file.
